"25 Years of NINE ELEVEN"

"25 Years of NINE ELEVEN: The Attack on the Twin Towers in New York - World Politics in Hamburg"
Reading and Discussion

The 21st century began on 11 September 2001 with an event as symbolic as it was catastrophically real: Islamist terrorists carried out an unprecedented attack on an America that had seemed invulnerable.

The Twin Towers at the heart of New York collapsed, broadcast live on television around the world. 3,000 people died in the skyscrapers and the hijacked planes. The shock reverberated across America and the globe. That day is etched into the collective memory of humanity - everyone still knows exactly what they were doing when it happened. The event has long since found its place in literature as well.

The attacks had their origins in Hamburg of all places - the "Gateway to the World". It was here that computer science student Mohammed Atta and other terrorists lived as sleeper agents and meticulously planned the attack.

Olaf Scholz was Hamburg's Senator for the Interior at the time. How does he remember that day and what it meant for the Hanseatic city?

And: how does the former Federal Chancellor assess the historical and geopolitical significance of the event? Anyone seeking to understand today's geopolitics cannot ignore NINE ELEVEN.